Physics of Sound

• Brief description of the Kit: Students work to understand sound by discussing how sound moves through media and how it is detected, by discriminating different sounds, and by determining what parameters (length, tension, etc...) have effects on pitch. Students are challenged also to devise ways to increase or decrease sound volume with given materials
  • Key points...
• Additional materials not provided by the kit (if any).
  • glass bottles for the waterphones
  • (metal?) coat hangers
  • extra string for door fiddles
  • rubbing alcohol for cleaning
• Be prepared to supply things like glass bottles for the waterphones and coat hangers for the long gongs. Make sure you experiment with some of the materials before you begin the lessons. It does take some time for the setup for each of the instruments, you should give yourself a good half hour of pure prep time.
• The 3rd graders DO NOT like to write on the handouts. Be prepared to constantly monitor them and encourage them to record their results.
  • Another suggestion to help them focus is to have them read the handouts (if you are using them), then pass out the activities/instruments, perform the activity, put everything away, then write their observations. No third grader is going to want to stop playing the xylophone to fill out a worksheet!
• If possible try to obtain two kits. Otherwise in a normal class there will be groups of 5 and 6. This makes it even more difficult to keep the kids on track.

Restocking Notes

• If the kits are used for more than one class, extra alcohol wipes are useful.

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Possible Lesson Plans

• There are 10 lessons in this kit. Some lessons are meant to span 2 or more 50 minute periods. The lessons that are probably easiest to alter or skip are these long lessons. For example, in the 9th lesson, there are multiple sound challenges that the students can be given. It may be beneficial to limit these challenges as seems necessary for time. Also, the final lesson, Lesson 10, is a class project lesson spanning 4-6 lesson periods. It is unlikely that within the gk12 time allotment that you will get to do this lesson. It is, however, a great lesson for the teacher and students to do after you are gone.

• Sample GK12 Fellow schedule:
  • Day 1: Investigation 1 - Part 1: Drop Challenge (teachers did Part 2 with class later)
  • Day 2: Investigation 1 - Part 3: Sound and Vibrations
  • Day 3: Investigation 2 - Part 2: Length and Pitch (teachers wanted to skip Part 1 and do it in class)
    • Split into two classes. The first day students explored all four instruments and made observations about them
  • Day 4: Investigation 2 - Part 2: Length and Pitch
    • The second day the students addressed the associated worksheets and wrote down observations.
  • Day 5: Investigation 2 - Part 3: Tension and Pitch
  • Day 6: Investigation 3 - Part 1: Sounds Through Air and Water
  • Day 7: Investigation 3 - Part 2: Sounds Through Solids
  • Day 8: Investigation 4 - Part 1: Sound Challenges (we split this part into multiple days also)
  • Day 9: Investigation 4 - Part 1: Sound Challenges

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Lessons

Lesson 1: Drop Challenge

Typical Duration: 30-40 minutes

• Overview: Kids learn how to identify sounds by describing the properties of sounds made by various dropped objects.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct drop chambers
  • copy student sheets
  • prepare safety poster and word bank poster
• Advice
  • If you do the coin demo, try dropping something else as well (keys, chap stick, chalk, and pen). Ask how they can tell one from another, introduce more vocabulary. Also ask if it matters if you drop the coin on the desk, the table, the floor, etc. This helps remove the sound from the object (the coin) and associate it more closely to the collision of two objects (the coin and the desk versus the coin and the carpet).
  • The safety poster included in the kit is very general. Be sure to identify possible behavior and/or safety concerns and outline them to the students prior to beginning the kit.
• Demo Ideas
  • Breaking glass with sound (Stan's demo)
• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions
  • Other useful additions to this lesson.

Lesson 2: Drop Codes

Typical Duration: 50 minutes

• Overview: Students communicate with each other by creating codes. This is done by assigning letters to sounds made by various dropped objects.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct drop chambers
  • copy student sheets (no 2)
• Advice
  • Demonstrate this lesson for the students at the beginning of the class.
  • The teacher can assign the letters to the objects before the class starts. If the teacher has a document camera, just lay the objects in the desired boxes, then write a letter for each object. The students have an easier time understanding this than if they try to come up with their own code. Some good letters to use are S, E, T, R, A, M, P, D.
• Demo Ideas
  • Talk about Morse code
• Media Clips and Links
• Extensions

Lesson 3: Sound and Vibrations

Typical Duration: 50 minutes

• Overview: Students learn about the vibrational nature of sound by inspecting sound sources. They also learn about sound receivers and discuss volume by relating it to sound intensity.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct door fiddle (practice first to make sure this works and is visible to the whole class!)
  • construct long gongs (1st time only)
  • copy student sheets (no 4 and 5)
  • gather materials not in kit:
    • small nail or ice pick (a tack works well)
    • pliers with wire cutter
    • scissors
    • tape
    • water
    • threads, 30 cm
    • paper towels
    • wire coat hangers, 75 cm (Difficult to find, a roll of wire works. Be sure to blunt the ends!)
• Advice
  • Make the door fiddle and the long gongs the day before this lesson to be sure they are functional and ready to go when the students arrive. Also, check the battery in the tone generator and play with it to get the beans to jump on the speaker.
  • The best way to use the door fiddle is to have the kids sit around the door, this allows everyone to see. The book suggests having one student come up to use the fiddle (bad idea). Be prepared to let every kid use it once.
  • If you are having trouble getting the rope tight enough for the door fiddle try making your own little pulley system with the rope to give yourself a mechanical advantage (hey, this is science, right?!).
    1. Tie a small loop into the length of rope that has passed under the door and it heading towards the handle to be tied off.
    2. Instead of tying off the rope at the handle, loop it over the handle and lead it down through the loop you just had in the rope.
    3. Now pull back up on the rope. You should notice that you can generate twice the force and get the rope tighter than before!
    4. Don't break the door with your new-found strength.
  
  
  
• Demo Ideas
  • bring a guitar

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 4: Vibration and Pitch

Typical Duration: 30-40 minutes

• Overview: Kids learn about high and low sounds, or pitches based on how fast the sound sources vibrate.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct door fiddle if needed
• Advice
  • Once again, make sure the battery in the tone generator is good and, make sure the door fiddle works properly.
• Demo Ideas

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 5: Length and Pitch

Typical Duration: 50 minutes

• Overview: Students investigate how length affects pitch by manipulating waterphones, kalimbas, string beams and xylophones.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • gather materials no in kit
    • scissors
    • 5 12oz glass soda bottles with caps
  • copy student sheets (nos 6-9)
  • prepare kalimbas and string beams
  • construct door fiddle if necessary
• Advice
  • "Tune" the waterphone before having the students use them. Also, prepare the kalimbas and string beams: the string beams need not be disassembled after this.
  • Demonstrating the waterphone after the class has been introduced to the length concept is also a good approach. Let them guess what the sounds will be. Also see if they can get that it's the opposite if you blow on them.
  • Bring some Advil for after 45 minutes of cacophony. Or make sure that your students play the instruments gently.
• Demo Ideas
  • A guitar can easily demonstrate the relationship between length and pitch.

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 6: Tension and Pitch

Typical Duration: 30-40 minutes

• Overview: Kids build the FOSS-ulele and a minigutbucket, both stringed instruments, and discover how tension affects the pitch of these instruments.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • copy student sheets (no 10 and 11)
  • construct minigutbuckets for the class (8)
  • construct 4 foss-uleles
  • gather materials not in kit
    • small nail or ice pick
    • scissors
    • pencil
    • masking tape
• Advice
  • Pre-prepare the minigutbuckets and foss-uleles to be sure they are functional. Make sure they are not in areas where your students will be tempted to play them while instructions are being given!
  • Students can be a little timid about putting too much tension on the mini-gutbuckets. If this is the case, instruct them to hold the cup in the bottom of their hand with the string doing through their middle and ring fingers. Then they can pull much harder without damaging the cup much.
• Demo Ideas
  • washtub bass (a big, inverted minigutbucket) or another stringed instrument to discuss tension and length and how these affect pitch
  • A guitar can easily demonstrate the relationship between tension and pitch. Just tune and detune it!
• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 7: Sounds Through Air and Water

Typical Duration: 30-40 minutes

• Overview: Students compare how sound travels through air and water. They also learn how different objects (like your outer ear and a megaphone) can help direct sound.
  • Points of Interest: A brief, bulleted outline of the contents of the lesson.
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct sound tubes and megaphones
  • copy student sheets (nos 13 and 14)
  • gather materials not in kit
    • alcohol
    • cotton balls
    • paper towels
    • water
• Advice
  • Be sure to reiterate safety especially with the stethoscopes.
  • Watch out for water splashing. The kit says to snap the water, this will cause water to go everywhere. A better suggestion is to tap a plastic pen cap against the edge of the tub and listen to it through the air and in the water using the stethoscope.
  • The kids will figure out that sound will travel through solids from the tube. They put the tuning fork on the paper tube, they will continue to do this unless corrected.
  • Some students will agree that things sound louder in water, but insist that they sound better in the air and therefore decide that sound travels better in the air. You can address this asking if they think that whales think things sound better in the water or in the air. Also ask how far away whales can talk to one another versus how far away do we have to be.
• Demo Ideas
  • model of the inner and outer ear
• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 8: Sounds through Solids

Typical Duration: 40-50 minutes

• Overview: Using string telephones and wooden dowels, students learn that sound can travel through solids. They will also compare these results to how sound traveled through water and air.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • construct plastic cup telephones
  • copy student sheets (nos 16 and 17)
  • gather materials not in kit
    • scissors
    • small nail or ice pick
    • facial tissue
    • tape
• Advice
  • The students will be putting wooden dowels up to their ears...safety, safety, safety!
  • Students may suggest that we hear better through the table because our ears are closer to the scratching. Simply resolve this by having them scratch really far away with their ear on the table or closer with their ear slightly off of the table.
• Demo Ideas

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 9: Sound Challenges

Typical Duration: Two 50 minute sessions

• Overview: Students try to modify the pitch, volume and distance sound travels for familiar instruments (kalimba, waterphone, etc...).
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • prepare materials as listed
  • copy student sheets (nos 18-25)
  • gather a garden hose and water if ou like
• Advice
  • Perhaps limit the amount of challenges available for ease of facilitation. You may wish to spend two or three sessions on these challenges if you have the time.
  • This is a great time to set out group jobs to ease organization.
• Demo Ideas

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

Lesson 10: Choosing Your Own Investigation

Typical Duration: 4-6 sessions

• Overview: Students use what they have learned to investigate sound further. They can choose to use the given materials to manipulate sound or can do library research. Students then present their findings to the class as a project.
  • Points of Interest:
• Preparation
  • copy student sheets (nos 26-28)
  • gather materials requested by students
• Advice

• Demo Ideas

• Media Clips and Links

• Extensions

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Setup Advice

• String Beam
  • The sound coming from the string should be a nice crisp tone. If it has a mechanical vibrating sound, two things can be causing it. The fishing line might need to be tightened, and/or the hole in the paper cup is too big.
    • The fishing line can be tightened by pulling on the free end (located under the metal clip).
    • The hole in the paper cup should be just big enough for the string to fit through. If it isn't, the cup needs to be replaced.
• Door Fiddle
  • Setting up the door fiddle can be done with one person; however, it is much easier with two people.
  • Tighten the string as much as you can (without breaking it).
  • Sometimes the bottom will slide out as you tighten the fiddle, wrapping the string around a wooden block alleviates this.
  • For additional suggestions, see Lesson 3.
• Tone Generator
  • Be sure that the speaker is plugged in all the way.
  • It might be useful to mark where the resonance frequency is prior to doing the demonstration in front of the class. Finding the resonance can be tricky, so doing this can help avoid frustration during the demonstration.
  • Check the battery before class
  • When the correct resonance frequency has been found, the bean should literally be jumping off the speaker onto the table.

Links

Home page

Physics of Sound Toolkit created by WA LASER program. Includes concepts, lesson set up and management tips, teacher tips, literacy tips.

Fellows Who Have Taught This Kit:
Adam G.
Rick G.
Doug Y.

Fellows